ZFA engaging Russian Jews in the community
THE Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA) is expanding its initiatives to engage the NSW Russian-speaking Jewish community with Israel, Zionism and Jewish identity, having recently hired a NSW coordinator, Sabina Avshalom, who will organise programs and activities for young adults.
In 2012, Melbourne-based Sasha Klyachkina was appointed as the Jewish Agency for Israel’s first Russian-speaking Jewish community shlichah to Australia.
However, while Klyachkina’s role is national, the ZFA said there is a great deal of work to be done and potential to be achieved in Sydney, which requires a dedicated staff member and a program of activities directly targeting the NSW Russian-speaking Jewish community.
Last Friday, as part of the Shabbat Project, Avshalom, 28, organised a Russian-style Shabbat dinner for young members of the community.
“For many of them, it was their first time [having] a Shabbat dinner with kiddush and challah, and for many of the girls it was their first time lighting candles,” she said.
“What I really want to do is to remind them that ‘yes, you grew up in Australia and yes, you have Russian heritage’, but you’re also Jewish and you can also have a connection to Israel.
“This will be done by creating events focused on them and by including them in projects that involve the bigger circle of our community.”
Harry Triguboff, who funded the position, said: “Saving Jews from the former Soviet Union in terms of their Jewish identity and smoothing their path into acceptance by the Israeli rabbinate made me even more aware of the large Russian-speaking community in Sydney and I am eager to further efforts to bring them closer to both their Jewish roots and to the Australian Jewish community for the sake of Jewish continuity.”
ZFA president Danny Lamm said, “The commitment of Mr Triguboff to support this project for the coming three years is testament not only to his generosity, but also to his foresight in understanding the crucial need for engagement now with this community in order to connect the youth and young adults with their Jewish identity and Israel in the future.”
An existing initiative targeting young adults of Russian-Jewish background is the “Kangarusski” Birthright program, which started in 2013 and sees participants visit Israel for 10 days.
Upon their return, some subsequently became involved in leadership training programs and have since become active young leaders.
An upcoming event in the Russian-Jewish community is the inaugural Limmud FSU Australia conference – which will be held in Melbourne next March – with hundreds expected to hear from a range of speakers on culture, politics and Jewish identity.
“Limmud FSU will be a huge step for the Russian-Jewish community here in Australia. We’ll need all the support we can get,” Klyachkina told The AJN earlier this year.
EVAN ZLATKIS
The Kangarusski group in Israel earlier this year. Photo: Facebook
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